Police promote Prescription Take Back Day

Wisconsin police departments and sheriff's offices around the state are asking you to make a conscious effort to look inside your medicine cabinet on Saturday for any unneeded prescription medication. Law enforcement officers will be participating in the fifth annual national Prescription Take Back Day that gives people a chance to safely and anonymously drop off extra pills.

"Literally, there's a huge need out there for these programs to continue," said Reedsburg Police Chief Tim Becker, whose community brings up to 150 pounds of medication every two weeks to its secure drop-box inside the police station. "I know there are people who will question whether it makes a difference, but I'm here to tell you, practically speaking, hundreds of pounds of medication are turned in to us anualy and disposed of properly, so I think it's certainly worth the time and effort."

In Dane County, there are 12 MedDrop boxes accepting unused prescription medication located throughout the community. UW-Madison's Police Department officially opened its MedDrop box this week, the first in downtown Madison.

“This is a public safety issue,” UW-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling said in a statement released by the department. “Too often, these medications get into the wrong hands. We’re excited to have this valuable tool on campus for our community, citizens of Madison, and citizens of Dane County.”

The Take Back Day comes at the same time that Wisconsin's doctors and pharmacists are collecting information on the dispensing of controlled medicines and ingesting it into a statewide database. Starting on June 1, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, will allow health care professionals access to what patients have been prescribed throughout the state.

For more information on the Prescription Take Back Day in Dane County:www.safercommunity.net.

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